


Carry Me Slowly, My Sunlight

by ThriftySteps



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Aged Up, Alternate Universe - After College/University, Established Relationship, Fluffy, Grown Up, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Sappy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-11
Updated: 2019-06-11
Packaged: 2020-04-24 20:29:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19180828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThriftySteps/pseuds/ThriftySteps
Summary: Dex and Nursey have been in a relationship now for three years. Tonight, they're holding a party for the celebration of Nursey's Nobel Prize and the beginning of Dex's tech company.Early on, Dex grabs a mic because he has something he wants to say.





	Carry Me Slowly, My Sunlight

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sick in a country where I don't speak the language. I have a paper due at midnight that I WILL put off until tomorrow. Then I have a company visit after the four-hour lecture, so I decided to write a bit. 
> 
> Not beta'd. Not edited. Just raw writing, that I hope will make y'all feel some type of way.
> 
> Enjoy!

"Thank you all for being here tonight. It means a lot to me to be able to see so many of my friends and family in one place. Today, we’re here celebrating the launch of my tech company and Derek’s Nobel Prize in Literature. I… I’m honestly amazed that we’ve both come so far from who we were in college, that we’ve both been able to accomplish amazing things. And I know I’m not really one for storytelling—really, that all goes to Derek—but I want to tell you all a story.

"When I first met Derek, he was insufferable. He was so many things at once that my brain couldn’t keep up and that manifested itself into anger. Of course, most of you know this part, so I won’t go into too much detail, but through spending time together, we found that we really clicked on and off the ice. We balanced each other out, kind of like yin and yang. Uptight and chill; white and black; analytical and philosophical; poor and rich… we really were—are—complete opposites. But instead of making it harder to get along, we made it work, we brought out all the good in each other, played to our strengths and helped each other in our weaknesses. 

"After college, we did end up moving to opposite sides of the country, since I got an internship in Silicone Valley and he chose to stay in New York. And for a few years it stayed that way, we stayed apart, texting every once in a while, meeting up when either of us was in the area. All that time, I… I had a crush on Derek. Actually, it’s safe to say that I’d had a crush on him since the beginning. And I never acted on it, for whatever reason. Then one day, I guess I just got tired of it. I went to visit Derek at one of his readings for his third published book, Forgotten and Never-Ending. 

"I remember this day vividly. It was cloudy and extremely windy in New York, I was rushing to the library Derek was supposed to be at straight from the airport. I had just come from California with nothing but my laptop, a suitcase, and the clothes on my back. It was cold, but I was running to see Derek, so I didn’t really feel it. When I got there, he had just started reading and I was able to slip in and hide in a corner. 

"My heart was racing and aching at the sight of him. He was wearing an off-white cashmere sweater with his stupid green beanie that I can believe I could still recognize from college. He was reading Fox in Autumn, which was ironic, considering the theme of it, but Derek can tell you about that later. 

"When I met with him afterward, he was shocked, of course he was shocked, I popped up unannounced. But, when I told him why I was there—which was embarrassing because I kept blabbering on and on, I can’t believe he let me go on talking like that. Anyway, when I told him I was there because I guessed I was in love with him, he laughed. He laughed so hard, there were tears in his eyes, and my ears were burning, and he just hugged me. He hugged me until his laughter stopped, he buried his face into my neck and called me an idiot, which, yeah, that’s valid. 

"And that was the start. Well, not THE start, but another start.

"I love Derek, insanely so. I love his midnight rants about Victorian poetry, I love the way his hair sticks up where he ran his hand through it while writing, I love the way his eyes shine in the morning sun, and how he smiles at the stupid tech memes I send him. I… There’s so much I love about him, that if I stood here and listed it all, we would be here for weeks.

"The difference between him and all the other people I dated is that he never needed me, only wanted me, and I appreciate that.

"For all of this and more, I, William J. Poindexter, am asking you, Derek Malik Nurse; Will you marry me?"


End file.
